


Inevitability

by Simplistically_content



Series: To Become a Pack... [13]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-23
Updated: 2013-07-25
Packaged: 2017-12-21 04:24:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/895788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simplistically_content/pseuds/Simplistically_content
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before and after Motel California.<br/><em>You just remember that there’s only one of you, and I have plenty of wolfsbane.</em><br/>In which there are talks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

“Can I talk to you?” Stiles looked up, phone still against his ear and stared at Ethan, eyes wide and full of _something_ that Stiles saw made Ethan shift uncomfortably. His pups around him started growling low, barely loud enough for Stiles to hear but definitely loud enough for Ethan to hear. “Look, I need to talk to you, okay?”

“Why?” Isaac nearly snarled and more on instinct than anything else, Stiles reached out his free hand and gently carded his fingers through the curls on the back of Isaac’s head. It did nothing to tone down how pissed the beta was but it grounded him enough to stop his eyes from flashing.

“He’s your alpha, you don’t speak to another alpha during formal discussions without his permission. Does Hale not teach you pups anything?” Ethan was rolling his eyes despite the tension in his shoulders.

“You just remember that there’s only one of you, and I have plenty of wolfsbane,” Allison stared him down but instead of getting angry, Ethan regarded her with a curiosity that intrigued everyone before the alpha nodded.

“And he’s not the alpha,” Scott muttered.

 _“Can someone start fucking talking to me please?”_ everyone heard shouting coming from the phone and Stiles winced.

“He’s Hale’s mate,” Ethan said with ease. “Means he’s the alpha too. Now please?” the word seemed to twist as he said it but he managed in the end and Stiles cleared his throat, directing his next words into the phone.

“D, I gotta talk to Ethan-”

 _“Keep me on the line,”_ Derek growled and Stiles passed the phone to Allison while Lydia huffed and moved to sit by the now much closer Danny.

“You can’t really talk in private on a bus with three other wolves on board, kid,” Stiles gestured to the empty seat and Ethan stiffened before taking it.

“I told you Ennis was dead,” he started and Stiles waited. “Kali, Morell-”

“Wait, _Ms Morell?_ ” Allison interrupted. “Our French teacher?” Ethan snorted.

“She’s not just a French teacher,” he muttered. “She, Kali and Aiden took Ennis to the vet-”

“Deaton? Is he okay? Did they hurt him?” Scott sat up straight, glaring holes in a now very irritated Alpha wolf. Only, it wasn’t Ethan that called him on it.

“That’s it. The next beta wolf or human to open their mouth will have one on one training time with Derek when we get back.” The pups all shifted. “For the entire day.” Even Boyd shrunk back at that threat and Stiles vaguely heard Derek muttering something about his betas losing respect for him because he’s being used as a threat against bad behaviour. “Suck it up Sourwolf,” Stiles said easily, gesturing to Ethan, who’s eyes had widened at the last word.

“Sour wolf?” he asked.

“Move along,” Stiles prompted, not willing to push his luck with Derek too far.

“They took him to the vets to see if he could be treated.” He paused, waiting for one of them to interrupt but when no one did, he nodded at Stiles and continued. “He survived. The vet managed to bring him round and encourage the healing process to start.” He saw Stiles cock his head to the side, eyebrow raised in question. “When I talked to you earlier, it was my brother who told me what had happened. He’s Deucalion’s youngest convert so he’s more sensitive to his presence, especially when Duke’s trying to hide it. Aiden told me he felt Duke before Ennis died, so he drew the conclusion that Ennis was killed by Duke. Kali didn’t feel him and Duke never showed his face to them, coming to them later.”

“He told them Ennis succumbed to his injuries from the fight with Derek,” Stiles concluded and Ethan nodded, uncomfortable.

“Aiden didn’t argue, or tell Kali. So she’s running hot on the intel that Hale killed one of ours - her oldest friend in the pack. Duke is encouraging it and expects both Aiden and I to go along too.”

“I don’t understand why you’re telling me this,” Stiles sighed. “I get that you care about Danny and he’s a part of my pack, but is that enough to turn your back on your own pack?”

“I’m not turning my back,” Ethan said instantly, then paused before carrying on. “Believe it or not, when you got him off me earlier,” he gestured to Isaac with a shake of his head. “And questioned me afterwards, you showed me a kindness I haven’t seen since my original pack was strong. You can call it just being you, or just being a good alpha, if you like, maybe that’s what it is, I’m just saying I owed you an explanation and a warning of what to expect. And for you to give Hale a warning that Kali is on the warpath, worse than before.”

“What does Deucalion get out of it though?” Stiles asked the question his pack desperately wanted to ask.

“This one,” he gestured to Scott. “Is going to do something very few have managed before in all our history. And Duke wants to capture that potential and harness it to better his pack.”

“So this has nothing to do with Derek... not now at least.”

“It did. Hale’s a new alpha, a born beta, born to follow, not lead, but he’s still strong - strong enough to grow into his role... _Eventually_ ,” he added and Stiles rolled his eyes. “He was supposed to be the easy mark, and then McCall happened. A lone beta acting as an alpha to a pack of humans; the hunter, the immune, the spark.”

“That sounds suspiciously like some kind of prophecy bullshit,” Boyd was the first to open his mouth but Sties didn’t reprimand him because he was right.

“It does, but it’s not. Duke’s very theatrical,” Ethan didn’t sound impressed. “He rallied his pack,” he continued, gesturing again to Scott. “He seemed to entice the Hale beta away from Hale,” a quick glance at Isaac, who flushed, and growled his objection. “And then last night, he stopped Ennis in his tracks.”

“And his eyes flashed red,” Allison said quietly. Scott, who was looking very confused at that moment, groaned.

“My eyes didn’t flash red, they can’t. I’m not an alpha.”

“But for a second, you had the alpha power and you’d done it, not by killing another alpha or inheriting it through blood, but by sheer force of will, trying to protect your pack, your friends, and by extension Hale.”

“You realise I’ve been a part of Derek’s pack for a while now, right? I’m not out on my own.”

“But you look like you are,” Stiles pointed out. “Remember we told you not to change your habits? They saw you as a lone beta and it confused them.”

“It confused _them_ ,” Ethan corrected the emphasis.

“Not you?”

“Not recently.”

“I still don’t know why you’re telling me this, why you’re telling us this.”

“I’m not turning my back on my pack, I’m keeping my options open. I love my pack, but it’s not a true pack, Aiden is my only true pack. He’s my priority. That Duke can kill one of us so easily and lay the blame elsewhere is not surprising, but at the same time...” he trailed off and Stiles nodded.

“It’s unthinkable. However,” he said. “It’s how you came to be what you are. It’s how he makes his alphas.”

“It doesn’t matter the minute details of why I wanted to give you this information, it matters that I am. And I may in future, depending on how much it’ll mean mine and my brothers survival. We didn’t want to come here, I’d heard rumours, I’d heard it all, but Duke was adamant.”

No one said anything for a long while until Sties shook his head, seemingly coming back from a daydream.

 _“STILES!”_ They all heard Derek shout from the phone and Allison handed it back over.

“Look, I’m not going to go against Duke if it means we stay alive. But we are Alphas. By our nature we do not submit to anyone.” He caught Stiles’ eyes flicker back to Danny and Ethan _flushed_ before smirking. “Within reason.” That said, he got up and moved to sit back beside Danny while Lydia returned to her position beside Stiles.

 _“You are no longer allowed to do anything without supervision.”_ Derek grumbled into the phone and Stiles’ shoulders sagged, relieved.

“The next time you leave me behind, take my pack on a suicide mission and then disappear for an entire fucking day, I’m lacing your entire wardrobe with wolfsbane and mountain ash and relegating you to the dog house. _Literally.”_

 _“Harsh,”_ Stiles eyes snapped to Scott and his friend tried to be one with his seat.

There was something to what Ethan was saying. Stiles wasn’t one to make excuses for anyone, let alone a member of a rival, aggressive pack hell bent on destroying his own, but he could almost, almost sympathise with Ethan. He only had his brother that he could rely on beyond all doubt; Deucalion wasn’t about to sacrifice himself for Aiden, neither was Kali, but they all seemed to share the pack bond, to honour one another, to respect one another. While not traditional, the pack of alphas were still, inherently, a pack unit. Stiles honestly believed that the twins, and to a certain extent Kali, were there because they had nowhere else to call their own. Kali, it seemed, had succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome and Stiles wouldn’t want to save her even if he had that option. He just wouldn’t.

The twins though... Ethan was slowly but surely edging his way into Danny’s affections and it was making Stiles uncomfortable. Aiden and Lydia, he could handle. He was almost certain that was purely physical, but Danny looked to be getting invested, so much so that he openly favoured Ethan over Stiles and the pack. He’d yet to speak up on Ethan’s behalf during meetings, but Stiles was sure it was only a matter of time. He wasn’t sure what he’d do - or what _Derek_ would do when that happened. The alpha pack went against all his own pack instincts, the traditions taught to him by his parents, his sister, hell, his entire family. They made Derek uncomfortable by just existing.

The Hale family, in Stiles eyes, were another enigma. Rather, one particular part of it.

He pulled the hand he’d still been unconsciously using to play with Isaac’s hair back, rolling his eyes at the whine of protest and opened up his messages.

 _'Find anything out?'_ he wrote and hit send, sitting back and staring down at his iPad. He heard Lydia talking to him about the sacrifices and tuned in; it wouldn’t do to ignore the girl now.

 _‘Maybe’_ was the reply he received and he frowned when he got a chance to look at it half an hour later.

 _It wasn’t a maybe kind of question,_ he replied and noticed, with a bad, bad feeling in his gut, that the bus was turning into the parking lot of a cheap motel.

 _Then allow me to clarify,_ the reply to his text began. _I have found something, though I am unsure as to whether it is a concern of ours, but if it is, then we are, for lack of a better word, fucked._

Stiles stared down at the text, the feeling in his gut burning and churning.

' _Let me know what you find when you’re sure it concerns our little problem.'_

He only hoped he wouldn’t have to find out what Peter had discovered.


	2. Chapter Two

From the coach was shouting at them about being sexual deviants and any acts of the aforementioned sexual deviancy were prohibited, or words to that effect to the coach’s voice waking them all up on the bus the next morning, their stay at the motel was... not something Stiles would call healthy, or enjoyable, or even fair. It was terrifying, _horrifying_ , Stiles nearly lost three member of his pack, he’d saved Ethan, saved Boyd, _saved_ Isaac _and_ saved Scott, with Lydia and Allison helping. He was so tired; they were all damn tired that they just crashed on the bus, unwilling to step back inside a room in the motel and risk another round of suicidal tendencies.

The entire night had been the first time since Stiles and Derek had gotten their act together that Stiles felt _honestly_ terrified of what might happen should he lose anymore of his pack. Saving Ethan had been instinct; he hated seeing anyone in pain, seeing someone about to eviscerate themselves with a power tool wasn’t high on Stiles list of _Things to see Before I Die._

Seeing Boyd in the tub had made his heart stop. He let out a sound that Lydia would later tell him, shook her to her core it was so full of anguish. When both Boyd and Isaac were safe again, Stiles ranted for five minutes straight before hugging them both, barely controlling his sudden need to break down completely. Isaac had clung to him, still shaking, Boyd remained strong for the both of them, acting as if he was standing guard over them as they made an attempt to pull themselves together.

Scott had been difficult.

Seeing Scott doused in gasoline holding the flare had torn him up inside something beyond what he’d felt for Boyd or even Isaac. Scott was his best friend; he’d been there when his mom died, Stiles had been there when Scott’s dad bailed. They’d been through so much together and for Scott to act that way, something in Stiles broke and he warned off his pups when they tried to stop him stepping into the puddle of gasoline.

The night had been one Stiles would very much like to forget, and the wake up call they all got the next morning wasn’t something he’d like to repeat either.

“Ethan, sit for a second,” Stiles patted the empty seat beside him beaming when Danny just rolled his eyes. “Don’t think for a second we’re not chatting later too, Dan-o.”

“Why’d you do it?”  Ethan asked and Stiles shrugged.

“Because I don’t like seeing needless violence. You and yours picked the ideal time to stop by didn’t you? We have a druid psychopath killing in threes on one hand, and on the other... there’s you guys. Not that I’m saying go away and come back later, because I’d rather you just went away and stayed away, but _whatever_ , who wouldn’t, right?” Ethan didn’t answer and Stiles hadn’t really expected him to. “I want to call in the favour, right now,” he went on after taking a deep breath. Ethan gave him a long, considering look, his eyes flicking back towards where Danny was sat waiting for him. “Nothing to do with him, if you two want to play house, who am I to get in the way of the inevitable heartbreak at the end where, y’know, you try and kill his pack and his friends.”

It was barely there, but Stiles saw, he _saw_ Ethan flinch, and he filed the information away to think more on later. _That_ was interesting.

“Beyond you, beyond your pack, the druid, the sacrifices, everything, I have a pack to look after and help run. That’s _my_ job, got it?” he said and went on without waiting for an acknowledgement. “That said, I can’t do my job unless I have all the facts.” He took his phone out of his pocket and pulled up a picture, holding it out for him to see but low enough so no one else could possibly get a glimpse.

“That’s dangerously close to second guessing your alpha,” Ethan murmured.

“I’m in the unique position where a part of my job is second guessing my alpha. And as I said, I can’t protect my pack unless I know everything so. You didn’t just come by...” he flicked the phone, indicating the subject of the picture. “By chance. You can’t have.”

“You want to talk about this now?”

“That depends, how much are you willing to tell me?”

“You need to be asking,” he gestured to the phone. “Some probing questions, force the truth out. I can’t say what’s been going on since,” he made a face, annoyed that he couldn’t use certain words but Stiles nodded anyway. “But I know that information is being kept from you and your pack. Duke knows more, he and Kali gathered all the captives...”

“Cards on the table, then we’re even.” he took a breath, well aware every ear of his pack was trained on him at that moment in time. “Is she a threat to my pack?”

“I can’t answer that because I don’t know for sure,” Ethan said slowly. “I know she’s hiding a lot from you and Hale.”

Stiles nodded, frowning, flipping his phone over in his hands and staring at nothing, thinking the conversation was over until he felt his phone being plucked from his hands. He saw Ethan open up a blank message and start typing. He was typing for a full minute at least before he handed the phone back and left Stiles alone. Frowning, Stiles shifted until he was sideways on the seat, curling up so he could read in peace.

_I don’t know for sure, but Aiden and I have worked out that babyH is more than she appears._  
Before Beacon, I remember seeing her in a few cities we were staying. I caught her scent and since  
I’ve caught it when Duke and Kali are around, no sign of babyH. She’s not what she seems - She’s more.  
I don’t trust her and I don’t think you should either. Unless the balance tips back in your favour,  
this is the last bit of info I’ll give you for free. You have my word, as an Alpha Wolf, that I won’t hurt Danny.  
Delete this now.

Still frowning, Stiles deleted the text and turned his phone off and on again to clear the history.

He thumbed through his texts until he came to Peter’s name and hesitated before opening it.

_'Check towns where the Alpha Pack have been known to hit and/or stay in.'_

He sighed, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back against the window, not even flinching when he felt his legs being lifted and set down again, this time on someone’s lap.

“I won’t insult you by questioning your intentions,” he heard Isaac’s voice speak quietly and released a huff of breath through his nose. “I know you’re only trying to protect us,” Isaac went on. “But do you think Derek will thank you for going down this road?”

“Derek won’t need to thank me, because Derek is an alpha and an alpha’s responsibility is to his pack, his mate and his territory. In that order.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Isaac muttered and Stiles’ lips twitched.

“This werewolf business is making me feel old way before my time,” he mused. “My mom used to tell me her illness made her feel old before her time; she was always tired, had almost no energy, but she’d always put a smile on her face for me and Dad. She’d tell me never to hold back when I want something, that I should fight for what I want in my life, for who I want in my life and then, when I have everything, I should fight like hell to keep them. I’ve been worrying about anything and everything for so long, even though it hasn’t been that long at all, that the weight of it all is making _me_ tired.”

“Derek wouldn’t ask you to do something he knew you couldn’t-”

“That’s not what I mean, pup,” he smiled anyway. “I know he wouldn’t. Surely you’ve noticed how _old_ I sound sometimes...” he slitted open one eye and saw Isaac flushing a little, agreeing.

“But that’s the position; you’re there for everyone, you look after everyone. That’s enough to give anyone greys.” The kid’s eyes widened and Stiles heard more than a few snorts coming from the seats around him. “I didn’t mean- Stiles- you _don’t_ have grey hair!” he said emphatically.

“Thanks pup,” Stiles chuckled. “My last check in the mirror wasn’t that long ago but last night took a few years off... maybe I’ll start going grey soon enough.”

“I was just trying to say that... you’ve _grown_ into your role. You’re not perfect, no one is, you haven’t been there long but you always try, you ask the hard questions. You push when tough choices have to be made. You’re looking at the bigger picture when everyone’s looking at now.”

“My mom would have liked you... she might have adopted you actually. You’re cute enough, innocent enough, got that doe-eyed puppy look going for you,” he smirked at Isaac’s affronted look. “I know what you’re saying,” he said. “And I appreciate it. I just won’t be able to sleep easy until I know my pack is safe.”

“We’ve the Alphas and the druid to worry about,” Isaac began. “Where do you think she falls?”

Stiles glanced towards the back of the bus where he saw Ethan grinning at something Danny said, leaning in to whisper something in his ear that made Danny flush and his eyes dart around.

"For Derek's sake, I hope I'm worrying over nothing, but if I'm not... if this is all some ploy... I hope she's with one of the two groups," he sighed. "We just can't take a third party assaulting us on top of everything else."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think by now it's evident that I (the author) want Ethan to be more than just a thug, I want to give him dimension, I want him to be effected by Danny more than perhaps the show lets on (then again, I saw the promo for 309 and I got excited! Also the Dethan moment in there was sweet, and a little scary, but sweet). Within the context of this verse, you can see I'm trying to stick with canon at least a little, events are going on canonically, certain reactions are different, that's all. With Ethan - and to an extent, Aiden, though I've not really seen much of him beyond him and Lydia getting dirty - I want him to question Deucalion, I want him to find it in himself to turn from Duke, for Danny. Whether I get the chance to do that within this verse remains to be seen!
> 
> Let me know what you think!
> 
> EDIT: IT LIED TO ME! AO3 LIED! IT TOLD ME I COULD POST TOMORROW BUT IT POSTED TODAY! I'm flailing so much right now. Urgh okay, sorry about this… unexpected gift, I guess? Totally not my intention to give you this before tomorrow evening but whatever. Enjoy I guess. The LAST chapter is VERY short and will be posted TOMORROW when I get home. Omg FLAIL


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Very short.

The bus arrived back in Beacon Hills without fanfare, incident or anymore deep and meaningful pack talk from Stiles, which he was quite happy about if he were honest. He spent a few hours unabashedly playing Minion Rush on his iPad.

He jumped down from the bus and moved off to the side, stretching his arms out over his head, expertly dodging the prodding fingers of his pack as they passed him, even Danny joined in, laughing when Stiles prodded him right back, mocking him when he hid behind a bemused Ethan.

“Stilinski!” the coach shouted from barely a metre away and Stiles _yelped_. It wasn’t even a manly yelp. It was high pitched yelp that sounded like he’d been breathing in helium.

“Yes Coach?” he ground out. The coach drew him away from the rest of the class.

“I have no idea what you get up to in your spare time and nor do I want to know; if you have secret lovefests and exhibitionist orgies with your creepy little friends, that’s your business.” Stiles was staring at him, eyes wide, mouth agape. Pure disbelief, that’s all he could feel. “I don’t take kindly to you flaunting it all on my bus! The next time we have a field trip, you’re sitting up front! Alone! I’ll have no hanky panky on my trips! You hear?!” he stomped off, muttering under his breath and Stiles was still staring at the space the coach had just abandoned.

“That would have been the funniest thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” Boyd was there, patting Stiles on the shoulder. “If I didn’t hear him muttering about how impressed he was that you got as much _tail_ as you did.”

“You are a horrible, horrible individual, Vernon Boyd,” Stiles transferred his stare to Boyd, who shrugged, uncaring.

“You’re our alpha, isn’t it your job to know if someone is talking about us behind our backs?” his tone _sounded_ genuine and Stiles _almost_ believed him, but then he glanced into Boyd’s eyes and saw them _dancing_.

“Your eyes are dancing,” he said, voice flat. “You are horrible and you relish the thought of me suffering with my internal misery. _RELISH_!” he cried and stomped off, not stopping until he reached his jeep in the parking lot, where his phone started to ring. He glanced at the caller ID and scowled some more. “My coach thinks I’m having orgies with the pack. Your pups think its hilarious.”

 _“Why is it when you’re annoyed at them, they’re suddenly my pups?”_  he heard the grumbled voice of his mate and huffed down the phone.

 _“ORGIES!”_ he shouted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That almost wasn't worth the two day wait but, in case y'all were wondering, Bruce Springsteen was amazing in concert, again. :D

**Author's Note:**

> There are two more parts, obviously, so I'm not going to say much besides the fact that I'm not 100% happy with this but meh, it is what it is. I'll put up the next part on Thursday (I'm out tomorrow night, oh yes!)  
> Let me know what you think!


End file.
